Last weekend saw the highly anticipated GrappleFest 7 show take place in Liverpool (UK). On bout number seven of the card, Kaya Rudolph faced off against John Moffatt (SBG UK). To start, Kaya clinches, briefly threatening a guillotine with John pulling guard, Kaya then finding a knee slice entry. Kaya shows off his stellar defence here, fending off a single leg take down attempt by John and an attempted heel hook entry. John pulls guard into a single butterfly, with Kaya doing a great job to maintain balance on top. Kaya neutralises the butterfly with a body lock, using the body lock to pass. A wonderful back take from Kaya! Kaya transitions from double hooks into a body triangle, attempting to sink in an RNC. After a brief period of hand fighting with John managing to escape the body triangle, Kaya uses the opportunity to snap the RNC on for the tap at the 2.35 mark. Kaya marks himself as one to watch at just 18 years of age! Congratulations on taking away the win in your debut GrappleFest appearance.
Up against Kade Ruotolo (Atos), Jeremy Paul Skinner had a very dynamic match, with high level jiu-jitsu being showcased. Significant submission attempts started early, with Jeremy finding a 50/50 entry, a similar approach to that of Lachlan Giles at ADCC Worlds 2019. Jeremy showed amazing defence throughout this match, fighting off submission attempt after submission attempt. Unfortunately for Jeremy, Kade neutralised his heel hook attempt, securing a kimura grip to transition into an inverse triangle. After giving up on the inverse triangle, Kade moves to his feet in an attempt to isolate one of Jeremy’s legs, snapping on a tight d’arce. Jeremy turtles, with Kade forcing him into bottom side control. The two then move to standing, with Kade securing an underhook. Jeremy, matching Kade’s athleticism, hits a flying triangle and then proceeds to try and sink in a chin strap. From the flying triangle position, Jeremy forces a leg entanglement to no success. The two continue the fight for dominance with Jeremy in an open guard and Kade on the feet, Kade hitting another d’arce entry to get the tap with three minutes left on the clock. A hard match against a tough opponent for Jeremy, however we commend him on an entertaining performance and great skill in neutralising many submission attempts from an aggressive opponent.
In a under 90kgs match up, brown belt James Walters faced off against Ben Hills (Next Gen). Up against a skilled opponent in Hills, James regrettably got caught early in the match after some back and forth grip fighting between the two contenders, with Hills securing a high wrist guillotine. Despite this not being the result James wanted, we are supremely proud of how he conducted himself in at GrappleFest as a sporting representative for the gym and that he is competing at such an elite level.
The main event for GrappleFest saw Coach Craig Jones in a match for the under 100kg belt against Adam Wardzinski (Checkmat). The match kicks off with Craig securing the clinch off the feet to start, Adam sitting down, and Craig attempting to saddle. Craig sits into a butterfly and then quickly transitions into Z guard. Adam, understanding the danger of Craig’s Z guard, quickly moves to his feet, with Craig then finding the same clinch where the match began. This results in Adam pulling guard, this time with him finding a shin to shin, with Craig diving over the top, looking for a kimura. Craig also uses this movement to lock in an inverse triangle. Adam attempts rolling out to reverse the position, Craig, going with the momentum, closes the space on the triangle for the tap at the 1.20 minute mark! Craig continues his dominance over the competitive scene and takes away the belt!
Continuing the overseas trend, ONE ROUND IRE (Imanari Roll Ecstasy) commenced in Tokyo on Sunday (24/11/2019). Both black belt Coaches Sean Le Gourrierece and Mikael Yahaya competed at this event in a singular, 5 minute round format with overtime rules. Up against the legendary Imanari, Mikael’s match went to overtime. In overtime, the contenders take turns attacking and escaping both starting from 50/50, the fastest escape or submission wins the match, with submissions being superior to escapes. Mikael attacked first, however Imanari eluded his heel hook attempt, escaping in 20 seconds. Despite Mikael not securing the win, an amazing opportunity to compete against a legendary grappler in elite competition for Mikael!
Coach Sean Le Gourrierec had his match-up against Robson Tanno, a Brazilian competitor competing out of INFIGHT Japan. In the five minute round, Sean passed his opponent’s guard twice, transitioning from a wrist lock attempt to a d’arce choke, to a north south choke. Unable to secure the tap despite having the choke on at the 5 minute mark, the referee took the match to overtime. With overtime seeing the two start in 50/50, Tanno popped Sean’s ankle a couple of times, getting the tap 10 seconds in. With Sean’s turn to attack up next, he started in saddle, getting the inside heel hook in 11 seconds- just one second too late! An inspiring performance and amazing battle from Sean.
Written by Emilie Yap and Matt D’Arcy.
Photography: violetxanthephotos, VTG Images and Mikael Yahaya.